


Scenes from an Alternate Universe

by notjustmom



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 11:10:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19945192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: For the last few years, since I learned that the lovely NovaNara and I share a birthday on the 24th of July, I have written her at least one birthday fic every year. This year she requested an Endgame Fix-it, and since it is now the 24th in her part of the world, Happy Birthday, sweet heart sister. <3





	Scenes from an Alternate Universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NovaNara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaNara/gifts).



“Tony. Tony, look at me. Hey. It’s all over. You can rest now.” He looked into Pepper’s soft eyes and knew he could finally rest and for once let the world and the universe, for that matter, look after itself for a while.

***

“Daaaaaad!” Tony turned his gaze away from the lake to see Morgan pulling Steve behind her and again he wondered at his daughter’s strength, and the love she engendered in those she came into contact with. Rogers was no different. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Morgan. His mind flashed back to the last conversation they’d had before their final tussle with Thanos.

_“If anything happens, I mean, if I don’t -”_

_“You’ll be fine, Stark. You’ve always found a way out before, there’s always a loophole -” Rogers had tried to smile before he saw the look in Tony’s eyes._

_“Steve. If I don’t make it back, I need to know you’ll keep an eye on them. I’ve never asked for anything, well, nothing personal from you before. I just need -”_

_“Yeah, Tony. I promise.” ___

__

__He blinked and Steve was sitting in the chair next to him, staring out into space somewhere beyond the lake. He studied his profile and couldn’t help grinning as he spotted the first telltale signs of age finally begin to show on the ageless wonder’s chiseled features, and in the slight silvering of his hair._ _

__“What?” Steve muttered without looking at him. How well they knew each other, in spite of everything._ _

__“Starting to show your age a bit.”_ _

__“Hmm? Yeah. Right.”_ _

__“You don’t usually just show up here without a reason.”_ _

__Steve turned towards him and Tony studied the mood in the dark blue eyes and nodded, this conversation again._ _

__“I don’t know -”_ _

__Tony waited patiently for his friend to say the words. It had taken months after their last battle for them to get past their shared history and over the last couple of years they had finally learned how to be friends. At least now they had the time, and Tony knew not to rush him, but to let him get to the point at his own pace._ _

__“ - what I’m doing, what I should be doing here. I don’t mean here on the porch, I mean here in this time. I’m not good at -” He slowly unfolded his large frame from the deck chair and spread his arms out. “ - this. Peace. Quiet. You’ve earned it, Tony.”_ _

__“So have you.”_ _

__“Have I?”_ _

__Tony shrugged and stared out at the lake again, and took a few breaths before he spoke again. “What do you want?”_ _

__“Honestly?”_ _

__“Yeah. Honesty is a good place to start from. I think we learned that the hard way, if you recall.”_ _

__Rogers had the grace to blush, then turned away again. “I don’t know. There are times when I just want to disappear, make a leap into hyperspace, or whatever. Do you know what it’s like to be the only one of your kind? No. I know you do - but, it’s different for me. I don’t know how long - I’m never going to have a family like you and Pepper have, I won’t have a child of mine to follow after me. You’re lucky, Tony. You have everything I thought I ever wanted, and there’s nothing left that you have to prove to anyone. You can -”_ _

__“Rest?” Tony snorted and ran his fingers through his hair then smirked as Rogers faced him once more. “I can’t remember when I last rested, I mean really stopped and didn’t think about everything, the things I could have, should have done better.” He glanced down at his hands, one now forever encased in armor, the other still of flesh and bone, then looked up into Steve’s face. Even with his serum enhanced healing, his right side would always bear the scars from the moment just before Tony had snapped his fingers, when he had grabbed onto his friend’s left hand and nearly died from the energy that flowed through them both._ _

__“We haven’t really talked about this, have we? If you hadn’t -” He dropped his gaze and rubbed his nose. “You have nothing to prove, at least not to me, Steve. We were okay before - I was prepared, I was ready to not make it back this last time. You knew that, but you got me home again.”_ _

__He grinned and wriggled his fingers at Morgan who had made her way to the diving dock and turned back to wave at them, before she cannonballed into the water with a scream. “You got me back home to her, to them. I had sort of made peace with the idea that I wasn’t going to. I recorded all these messages, just in case. Made one for you -”_ _

__Steve dropped into the chair again and raised an eyebrow in Tony’s direction._ _

__“Told you to get a life.” Tony squinted up at the cloudless sky, and shook his head as he heard Steve laugh. “Want a beer?”_ _

__“Yeah. Love one.”_ _

__

__***_ _

__

__Pepper opened her eyes to find him studying her, and she smiled curiously at him as she laid her hands on his face, then drew him close and kissed him gently._ _

__“Happy Birthday, honey,” he whispered to her as he drew back, then handed her a small box that he had hidden away days earlier._ _

__“Tony.”_ _

__“Open it. Please?”_ _

__She sighed as she opened the velvet box and found a beautiful aquamarine ring, the three perfectly matched gems reminded her of the dress she had worn the night of the gala, the night when she knew beyond any doubt that she had fallen in love with the man who was smiling nervously at her now. “Tony, you know -”_ _

__“Shh. Just put it on. I tried to make sure -” He watched as she slipped it on her ring finger and it nestled neatly atop the wedding band that hadn’t left her finger since Tony had put it on ten years earlier. “Tell me you like it.”_ _

__She looked into his big brown eyes and couldn’t help but nod, and whisper, “I love it, Mr. Stark. It’s perfect, but ever since the day you walked off that cargo plane, all I’ve ever wanted or needed was you. Anything more -”_ _

__He grinned at her and kissed her before she could say another word._ _

__

__***_ _

__

__“Dad?”_ _

__“Hmm?_ _

__“Dad!”_ _

__Tony blinked at his daughter then growled gently at her, “my ears work just fine, just because -”_ _

__He smiled into her dark eyes, nearly copies of his own and stopped short._ _

__“Dad?”_ _

__“Nothing - it’s just - you’re beautiful.” Morgan spun for him and smiled down at him. “Still getting used to the idea that you’re taller than me now - don’t say a word, Morguna Stark.”_ _

__“Wouldn’t dare, Dad.” She kissed his forehead, then took his arm and gripped the bouquet tightly in her other hand. “Dad?” She knew the faraway look in his eyes and the stillness, and she waited patiently for him to come back to her._ _

__“Sorry. It’s just, you just look just like your mom did when I married her - it’s not just because you’re wearing the same dress - everything but the high tops - all the same. I don’t have any wisdom to impart, your mom did all the heavy lifting back then, still does._ _

__All I can tell you is to keep loving her - remember what you say to her today, remember how it feels to know that she will be the one person who knows you better than anyone, the brilliant bits, the not so good parts and everything in between. She picked you, out of all the people on the planet, hell, the universe, and you picked her. Just remember -” he stopped as she wiped away the single tear that had slipped down his cheek, then continued quietly, “just remember, once upon a time, I dreamed of a child, a beautiful dark-eyed child, and that dream came true.”_ _

__“Just glad you’re here, Dad.” She kissed his forehead once more, then swore under her breath as she rubbed the smudge of lipstick away._ _

__“Yeah, kiddo, me too. Me too. Now, let’s get this show on the road, hmm?”_ _


End file.
